I don't how deep the connection went to Diana Ross but according to how he treated his brothers and did business Mike could be pretty cold and vindictive.
But its also clear that he was influenced and copied alot of stuff he saw around him..
In 1983 Diana Ross performed a concert in Central Park for a taped Showtime special. Proceeds of the concert would be donated to build a playground in the singer's name. Midway through the beginning of the show, a torrential downpour occurred. Ross tried to keep on performing, but the severe weather required that the show be stopped. Ross urged the large crowd to exit the venue safely, promising to perform the next day.
The gifs are sped up for some reason cuz it looks like she's being blown off stage..lol but that was her trying to work with the conditions.
It was a REALLY impressive moment to see how she kept a cool head and still performed with a thunder and lighting storm overhead and she's on a metal stage holding a mic. Particularly how she used the wind as a personal effect for her performance.
I think Mike was REALLY impressed with that image as well which is probably why we see this image in Dirty Diana
In the last scene in the video it looks like he tried to recreate that shot from Diana Ross's concert.
Its the FIRST time we ever see Mike use wind effects like that. Coincidence???